User DeletedJun 22, 2023

Box A has $1,000,000. Box B is opaque and its contents depend on a machine that predicts the future... (Title has not enough space space, Question is in text below.)

https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/125970

Box A has $1,000,000. Box B is opaque and its contents depend on a machine that predicts the future... (Title has not enough space, Question is in text below.) - Divisions by zero

If the machine predicts that you will take both Boxes A and B, Box B will be empty. But if the machine predicts that you will take Box B only, then Box B will contain $1,000,000,000. The machine has already done it’s prediction and the contents of box B has already been set. Which box/boxes do you take? To reiterate, you choices are: -Box A and B -Box B only (“Box A only” is not an option because no one is that stupid lol) Please explain your reasoning. My answer is: ::: spoiler spoiler I mean I’d choose Box B only, I’d just gamble on the machine being right. If the machine is wrong, I’ll break that thing. ::: ----- This is based on Newcomb’s Paradox (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcomb’s_paradox [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newcomb%27s_paradox]), but I increased the money to make it more interesting.

Show threadAnonTwoJun 22, 2023

I feel like unless we're talking about supernatural AI the only answer is A&B

Otherwise the box has no real way of knowing what you would've picked, so it's complete RNG.

If there was a realistic way that it could make that decision i'd choose only B, but otherwise it just doesn't make sense.

edit: I also didn't realize until after I read it that box A always has the million dollars. So there's actually no reason to pick only box B in this scenario. The paradox only makes sense if box A is significantly less than box B. It's supposed to be a gambling problem but A&B is completely safe with the changes made.

Show threadUser Deleted

Box A is still significantly less than Box B

The difference between One Million and One Billion is about One Billion.

Did you count the number of zeroes incorrectly?

Jun 23, 2023 at 12:55amWeb